You can quit it if you really want

A physician, Dr Funsho Babawale, on Wednesday urged smokers to make up their minds to quit the habit to reduce health hazards.

Babawale told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that personal conviction and self-discipline were the best ways to quit smoking.

He said that, without self-will, some smokers would continue the habit in spite of therapies, medication and other quitting attempts.

“If you want to quit a bad habit, you need to discipline yourself; nobody can help you; you have to take the decision yourself; it is about personal conviction.

“If a smoker really wants to quit, he should see a doctor, a counsellor or a clinical psychologist; Any of these people would take him through the process of quitting,” he said.

He noted that antabuse was a product used to combat addiction.

“Antabuse is put on cigarettes which causes an unpleasant reaction in the smoker; it prevents him from smoking, but this method does not work on everyone.

“Some stop after seeing the effects of cigarette on their lungs; so, what we do is to show them the effects, and this challenges them and scares them away,” he said.

The physician said that smokers found it hard to quit because tobacco contained nicotine — an addictive substance injurious to health.

“Smoking is addictive, the more you smoke, the less effective the cigarette until one stick a day is not enough and then it becomes three or more daily.

“Addicts do not feel alright within themselves if they don’t smoke daily; when they feel shy and smoke, their shyness goes away.

“Smokers see the act of smoking as a way to relieve stress; many of them think that when they smoke, it means they have ‘arrived’,” he said.

According to Babawale, smoking triggers cancers in smokers three times more than in non-smokers.

“Smoking is one of the bad habits any human being can get himself involved in; it does not bring any benefit to the smoker except `getting high’.

“It has no medical or nutritional value at all; in fact, smoking is very injurious to the health.

“It damages the body, particularly the lungs, making cancers, catarrh and sinusitis more common in smokers than any other people.

“Nicotine is an appetite suppressant; therefore, those who smoke sometimes lose their appetite, which is not healthy.

“If you are a woman who smokes, you will have birth issues which can cause miscarriages,” he said.

The physician told NAN that there were other disadvantages of smoking such as smell of cigarettes and the resultant tobacco odour on clothes and property, bad breath and teeth stains.

Babawale said that educationists had a role to play in reducing smoking in Nigeria by enlightening pupils and students on the dangers of smoking.

The medical expert commended the Lagos State Government for stopping advertisement of cigarettes in the mass media, and banning public smoking.